Girls Chase Boys (and sometimes girls too)
by MissaSissa
Summary: 8-year-old Emma and Regina are forced to get along thanks to their mothers. But when Emma starts playing with Killian, Regina gets jealous. What is a girl to do? Fluff and cute moments.


The sky was clear and the sun shining, which made for a perfect day to go to the park. Snow and Cora decided to take their daughters out as they had thought the girls were best friends and inseparable simply because they were. After all, the girls were 8 now and had known each other their entire lives. They were dead wrong about that.

For as long as Emma could remember, her mother always invited Aunt Cora to join with everything they did whether it be swimming, game nights, roller skating, or camping. And with Aunt Cora came Regina.

Regina was the same age as her but she did not play nice like the other kids their age. She was always deciding what game they were going to play, she was always first to get a snack, and she _always_ got to pick movies on sleepover nights because Snow said she was a 'guest' and Emma needed to be polite. Emma hated when Regina came over.

'She's fussy and prissy and girly!' Emma had complained to her mother once when Snow had reprimanded her for throwing mud at her and ruining her new dress. She was just trying to play something that wasn't princesses or barbies. Emma was a tom boy, and proud of it.

'Give her a chance, Em,' Snow had coaxed her. 'She's a nice girl. And the Mayor's daughter.'

'She's a brat.'

'Emma…'

The little girl had rolled her eyes, scuffing her mud-caked sneaker against the clean wood floors. 'Fine, Ma. I'll try.'

As soon as the mothers had let their daughters loose to run wild, Emma had beelined toward the wooden castle to continue the game she had been playing with her best friend, Killian. Regina daintily skipped over to a group of girls and promptly began showing off her new dress that just-so-happened to match Emma's.

Emma pulled her baseball cap out of the lining of the dress and snapped it on before grabbing handfuls of dirt and spreading it all over her face and the frilly dress that she had 'accidentally' ripped the sleeves off in the car.

"Hey, Em!" A little voice called from up above.

Emma shielded her eyes from the sun and gave a toothy grin up to Killian. "You ready for me to kick your butt, boy?" She sassed.

"Bring it!" Killian teased with a waggle of his tongue.

Emma giggled and chased Killian up and down the slide and around the play area. As she crossed the monkey bars, she noticed Regina staring at her from the kissing tree. The little girl shook her head and kept playing. Regina was probably going to tattle on her for messing up her dress. She loved getting Emma in trouble.

Emma hung upside down a few times, showing off in front of Killian because she knew he wasn't able to do so. Once she reached the opposite side, however, Regina was standing there waiting.

"Hey, it starts back there." Emma jerked her thumb back behind her. "No cuts."

Regina's eyes glinted with anger. With a hard shove, Emma's sweaty palms released their grip on the bars and she fell down onto the wood chips below. The girl cried out in pain and held a freshly scraped knee in her dirt-caked hands. She glared up at the little brunette as Killian watched from his perch on top of the bars.

"You did that on purpose!" Emma accused.

"Did not."

"Did too!"

Killian jumped down and took Emma's arm to help her up. "C'mon, Em. Let's go back to the castle."

Like a real gentleman wouldn't hesitate to do, Killian wiped Emma's knee clean and put a band-aid on that just so happened to be sitting in his pocket. He gave her a crooked smile and handed her a wooden sword.

"Now you have a battle wound from fighting the Evil Queen."

They played their game for a few minutes more, Regina glaring at them all the while. Eventually, they ended up at the kissing tree. Emma suddenly noticed the little boy was nervous and quiet as his face flushed pink.

"Cat got your tongue?" Emma teased with a smirk.

"Um, would you mind if- if I kissed you?" Killian asked, his sky-blue eyes hesitantly meeting hers.

"If you're gonna kiss me then just kiss me. Don't ask." Emma rolled her eyes to hide her own nervousness, her heart pounding in her chest.

Killian leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Emma pulled away and hung on a tree branch. "That was stupid."

Killian looked hurt at that. Emma sighed and jumped down to the ground. "I don't know why we gotta be kissin' just cause I'm a girl. I'm your best friend."

"I don't see nothin' wrong with it," Killian said quietly.

Emma quickly grabbed his hand. "C'mon. Let's go swing. Bet I can go higher than you!"

The little girl took off toward the playground with Killian just a few steps behind her. Regina was absent-mindedly swinging nearby, looking as sullen as ever. Once Killian noticed Regina was near, he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Hey look! We're married!"

Regina immediately stopped swinging and marched over, shoving Killian off the swing from behind. The little boy landed face down in the dirt. Before Emma could do anything, Regina had a hold of her wrist and was dragging her over to the kissing tree.

Without uttering a single word, Regina punched Emma hard in the face, smack dab in the eye. As Emma landed on the ground in a disoriented stupor, Regina punched her again. That time, she knocked out her front tooth and caused her nose to bleed. Then, she marched off without another word.

Snow and Cora said their goodbyes and the girls went their separate ways. Snow continued to pester Emma about who bullied her.

"I'm fine, Ma," Emma grumbled as her mother held a bag of peas on her rapidly bruising eye. The cotton in her nose was making it hard to speak.

"It wasn't Killian, was it? You two always got along so well," Snow fretted.

"No, Killian's just some dumb boy," Emma answered, holding her baby tooth in her hand.

Snow nodded, seeming to accept this. "Well, did you at least make a new friend today?"

Emma grinned, showing off her one tooth. "I did. She's not as prissy as I thought. She's alright."

The next time Regina came over to play, the girls got along for once. And maybe, just maybe, they shared a secret kiss or two. After all, Regina wasn't just some dumb boy. She was Emma's best friend.


End file.
